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<h2>Products and features</h2>
<p>An Eclipse based <b>product</b> is a stand-alone program built with the
Eclipse platform.  A product may optionally be packaged and delivered as one or more
<b>features</b>, which are simply groupings of plug-ins that are managed as a single entity by
the Eclipse update mechanisms.</p>
<p>Products include all the code and plug-ins needed to run them.&nbsp; This
includes a Java runtime environment (JRE) and the Eclipse platform code.&nbsp;
The plug-in code, JRE, and Eclipse platform are typically installed with a
product-specific installation program.&nbsp; Product providers are free to use
any installation tool or program that is appropriate for their needs.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Once installed, the user launches the product and is presented with an
Eclipse workbench configured specifically for the purpose supported by the
product, such as web development, C++ program development, or any other
purpose.&nbsp; The platform makes it easy to configure labels, about dialogs,
graphics, and splash screens, so that the user has no concept of a platform
workbench, but instead views the workbench as the main window of the product
itself.</p>
<p>The top level directory structure of such a product looks something like this
for a hypothetical product called &quot;AcmeWeb&quot; that has been installed on
a Windows platform:</p>
<pre>acmeweb/
	acmeweb.exe		<i>(product executable)</i>
	eclipse/		<i>(directory for installed Eclipse files)</i>
		.eclipseproduct	<i>(marker file)</i>
		artifacts.xml (bundle pool contents)
		eclipse.exe
		eclipse.ini	
		configuration/	
			config.ini
		dropins/
		jre/
		features/	<i>(installed features if any)</i>
			com.example.acme.acmefeature_1.0.0/
				feature.xml
			...
		plugins/
			org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.0.0.v20070530.jar
			org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86/
			com.example.acme.acmefeature_1.0.0/
				plugin.xml
				about.ini
				about.html
				about.mappings
				about.properties
				acme.png
				splash.bmp
			com.example.acme.acmewebsupport_1.0.0/
			...
		links/
			...
		p2/
			...</pre>
<p>There are actually two ways of defining a product in Eclipse.  The preferred
  mechanism is to
use the <a href="product_def_extpt.htm">products extension point</a>. 
This extension point allows you to define your product and customize
branding such as splash screens, window icons, and
the like.</p>
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